TrainDad

This is the last part of a series.

What it really comes down to is this: with the Thomas sets, I get the feeling that the manufacturers are using the Thomas brand to sell product. Nothing wrong with that; but with GeoTrax, the manufacturer doesn’t have that brand, so they have to make a superior product that will sell on its own. And superior it is, in a myriad of ways:

1. Fantastic track. This stuff is really sturdy and easy to use!
   • It’s super-easy to hook together, even for the youngest children. I’ve seen a 1-year-old do it.
   • Once hooked, it holds together well enough that you can literally slide a layout across carpet without it falling apart.
   • But when the time comes to reconfigure or put it away, they pop apart easily when you want them to.
   • It holds up to being stepped on, even on carpet, without breaking or disconnecting (usually!).
   • The switches are easy to operate, slide out of place less frequently (causing fewer derailments), and look more realistic.
   • It’s real rail — train wheels really ride on flanges.
   • It’s precision made to minimize derailments, and often can re-rail automatically when they do happen.
   • It all interconnects — all types, all bridges, all buildings. This is not like the Tomy set where the road pieces are completely separate from the rail pieces.
2. Clever engineering.
   • Powered toys can also be hand-pushed (without stripping gears), even while turned on. Brilliant!
   • Gear-driven on uphills. This allows an engine to pull a long line of cars without the wheels slipping. Brilliant!
   • the same gear also drives action on many buildings - turning a crane, loading a pipe, rotating the turntable on the roundhouse. Brilliant!
3. Well-thought-out and kid-tested.
   • Huge on/off button right on top of the engines.
   • Simple, effective coupling system is easy to use. Yesterday I saw my son uncouple a Tomy — he held the engine and shook it really hard until the cars flew off.
   • Easy-access battery compartments. Have you seen the ridiculous battery extraction on a Tomy Thomas?
4. Grows with the child.
   • From the simplest circle of track to phenomenally complex layouts designed in CAD and sold on eBay (make sure you watch the animated build to see just how crazy it gets!), there’s no end to what you can do. Give teens a box of GeoTrax, and they love it. Moms admit addiction to it. It has endless appeal.
   • From the simplest buildings operable by a 2-year-old to the crazy roundhouse that took me 10 minutes to figure out, there is a range of products with a range of skill levels.
   • From simple, easy-connecting hills to 19-foot-tall towers.
   • Still fun for big kids… really big kids, like, um, dads…
5. Excellent build quality. Every piece is amazing. Sturdy, durable, precise.
6. Cost. Any given piece costs less than a comparable piece in any of the Thomas sets. The cheapest items in the line are easily found for $2.99, and they always include extras — in that example, you get a train engine, a gondola car, a crate, and a section of track. Beat that, Tommy!
7. Options.
   • Vehicle options like crazy:
     • unpowered, unpowered with lights and sound, powered (which typically come as part of a set), remote control with forward/stop, remote control with reverse.
     • not just trains: construction equipment, fire, ambulance and police, airplanes and helicopters, ships and snowplows.
8. Yes, remote control.
9. Sound effects. All of the remote-operated vehicles have digitally-recorded sounds from their real-life counterparts; you can play them at will.
10. Elevation! Multi-deck heights like nobody’s business! And don’t tell me you can do this with Tomy. I’ve seen the YouTube videos of people trying, but they don’t compare.
11. Speed! One of the surprising bonuses I wasn’t expecting was the way trains hurtle down hills. It’s exciting and unexpected, and adds a whole new element of fun. For big kids and adults, a lot of the appeal is in trying to see how far you can push the envelope without the trains flying completely out of control.
12. Any toy that gets blogged on Wired must be cool.
13. And then gets a Wired writeup on hacking it. Even cooler.
14. New stuff added regularly. They are always improving the product, and new releases are highly anticipated. This year, for example, they are introducing people — small, cleverly-designed figures than fit into engines and other cars.

But when it all comes down to it, my son thinks it’s just more fun — and that’s good enough for me.